The British Horseracing Authority said on Friday that “an overall review of the anti-doping education program” for jockeys will be “a priority” in 2019, and that a review of the penalty structure for riders testing positive for cocaine and recreational drugs could be included “if appropriate”. For the moment, however, the BHA has “no immediate plans” to follow the lead of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), its Irish counterpart, which said this week that its new standard punishment for a cocaine positive will be a five-year ban.

There has been a slight rise in the number of jockeys returning positive tests for cocaine on British tracks in recent years, and while there was just one positive in 2018, there were three in 2015 and two in both 2016 and 2017, following a six-year period from 2009 to 2014 with just one cocaine positive in total.

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In Ireland, though, there have been 13 positives in just four years, including a single afternoon at Galway in 2017 when eight jockeys were selected for random testing from around 30 at the track, and three tested positive. The IHRB took this as a clear sign that it faced a serious problem, and having initially raised its standard penalty for a first offence to a four-year ban, it has now gone further to five.

The relative size of the racing industries in Britain and Ireland also needs to be taken into account, as there are around 1,500 meetings per year in Britain and just 350 in Ireland. The BHA could certainly argue that the IHRB’s stiff new penalty is an Irish response to what is, on the face of it, an Irish problem, but it intends to keep the issue under consideration all the same.

“Dr Jerry Hill [the BHA’s chief medical advisor] has made an overall review of the anti-doping education program a priority in 2019,” Robin Mounsey, the BHA’s head of media, said on Friday.

“This will include an assessment of cocaine and recreational drugs and will include looking at how prevalent their use is, how much guidance, education and support is in place for participants and, if appropriate, our penalty structure. However, there are no immediate plans on the penalties aspect at present off the back of the Irish announcement.”

Conor Murphy, an amateur with one winner from a dozen rides in the current season, was the first rider to receive a five-year ban after a hearing in Ireland on Thursday.

Damien Melia, an apprentice, received a four-year ban the same afternoon, though they will be able to reapply for a jockeys’ licence after 18 months and nine months respectively if they engage fully in the interim with the Irish regulator’s medical team, led by the much-respected Dr Adrian McGoldrick. A third jockey is also rumoured to have tested positive, and can expect a similar penalty if the result is confirmed when the case is heard.

On both sides of the Irish Sea, a five-year ban has previously been reserved for the most serious offences, normally those involving deliberate cheating or corruption. The current penalty for a positive test for cocaine returned by a jockey in Britain is a six-month suspension, and only a third offence in the space of three years could attract anything close to a five-year ban.

And for the moment, the British penalty seems appropriate to the apparent scale of the problem. The failure rate when testing for cocaine hit a peak of 1% – three positives from 295 tests – in 2015 and has dropped to 0.46%, 0.5% and 0.2% over the last three seasons. Cocaine takes three days to clear a user’s system, meanwhile, and with so much more racing in Britain than Ireland, it is also more difficult for a jockey to take regular extended breaks from the saddle without arousing suspicion.

This is not a problem that will ever go away, however, and in addition to safety concerns for riders, cocaine in particular, by its very nature, brings users into close contact with criminals. Vigilance and education may be sufficient for now, but stricter regulation too must always be an option.

Quick guide

Friday's best bets

The Chatteris Fen Juvenile Hurdle at Huntingdon is the feature event on the British programme this afternoon and while Fret D’Estruval (2.30) is a little weak in the market this morning – out to 9-2 from 11-4 overnight – he is still worth backing to step up from a very promising first run in Britain in a strong event at Cheltenham last time. In the end, he finished 40 lengths behind the winner Nelson River, but Alan King’s gelding looked likely to take a hand in the finish for much of the way and could be suited by today’s sharper test.

Wood Pigeon (2.00) also has an obvious chance on the same card, while Whiteoak Fleur (2.20) and Instant Replay (2.50) both have solid claims up at Sedgefield. Dancing Jo (1.10) and Betancourt (6.45) look best on the cards at Lingfield and Wolverhampton respectively.